MCPS, Architects Present Potential Wayside Elementary School Designs

Potomac residents got an inside look at what could look like in the future at a meeting on Tuesday evening.

Representatives from the Montgomery County Public Schools Division of Construction as well as architects from BerryRio Architects and Interiors presented proposed designs for the “new” Wayside Elementary School, which is scheduled to be under the modernization process during the 2014 through 2016 school years.

The modernizations will be a complete tear down of the existing building, excluding a new wing that was added in the 2007-2008 school year. Wayside’s current building was constructed in 1969.

At the meeting, the Division of Construction and BerryRio representatives showcased three different designs for the new building with one preferred concept. The preferred building plan, which is a two-story design with 65,882 square feet of new construction, connects the school in a circular layout with a courtyard in the center.

The site is currently undergoing a feasibility study, which determines how best to modify the design to fit the area and the school’s needs. Once the feasibility study is completed by the end of the summer, the preferred concept will be presented to the , said James Tokar, the structural engineer and project manager from the Division of Construction. The preferred concept could potentially change during the design phase of the project, he added.

Starr will then make a recommendation to the MCPS Board of Education about funding for the project. The Board of Education will vote on the project’s funding next spring, Tokar said.

Wayside Principal Yong-Mi Kim said one priority for the new building was the incorporation of teams, or clusters of the same grade level. The proposed building will group students based on their teams.

“We wanted to keep that feeling of teams and this plan addresses that,” Kim said of the preferred concept presented at the meeting.

Also, the preferred building plan is more “open” with a circular feel, Tokar said. Another proposed feature is that the public can access the media center and gymnasium without getting in to other parts of the school, he added.

“It’s all about keeping kids safe,” Kim said. “The kids are certainly safe now, but with the new design we won’t have to think so much about their safety.”

Students will attend Radnor holding school on River Road in Bethesda for the years the school is undergoing the modernization.